Some of the main perpetrators in the Newcastle sexual exploitation gang are facing lengthy jail terms today as the Operation Shelter sentencing hearing enters its second day. Four men are due to learn their fate at Newcastle Crown Court for their parts in the scandal.

Meanwhile some good news about yesterday's sentences. From the Telegraph

The Attorney General is to review the jail sentences of an Asian grooming gang after a judge ruled the exploitation of white girls was not racially motivated.

The judge’s decision meant stiffer penalties for racially aggravated crimes could not be applied in the case of the Newcastle-based sex ring.

Judge Penny Moreland said the gang picked out their victims “not because of their race, but because they were young, impressionable, naive and vulnerable”. Prosecutor John Elvidge told Newcastle Crown Court the victims were “white, British and female” and the defendants were “of Asian extraction” but insisted there was no direct evidence race had played a part in the gang’s process for selecting the girls.

Official sentencing guidelines stipulate that prison terms must be increased if crimes are racially motivated.

Jeremy Wright, the Attorney General, is set to examine the jail sentences after a former justice minister referred the case for review.

Lord Macdonald, the former Director of Public Prosecutions, said he was in no doubt that “aspects of the case are profoundly racist”. Lord Macdonald said: “They would certainly get stiffer sentences if the offending is racially aggravated.”

Mike Penning, a Conservative MP and former justice minister, said: “I have asked the Attorney General to look into this case. This looks racially motivated based on the evidence.

“I don’t understand the judge’s ruling that this cannot be racially motivated.”

In a previous case, linked to the gang, one member expressed his contempt for white women when he was challenged by a ticket inspector on the Tyne and Wear Metro. Badrul Hussain, 37, who was convicted of drug offences but cleared of inciting prostitution, told her: “All white women are good for one thing, for men like me to f*** and use as trash, that is all women like you are worth.”

Courts usually adjourn at 4pm, which as I type is 20 minutes time. The Chronicle should update soon.